From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Mar 31 14:11:42 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i2VJBgo19826; Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:11:42 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:11:42 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200403311911.i2VJBgo19826@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #154 TELECOM Digest Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:11:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 154 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Leading Vendors Deliver IP Phones, VoIP Devices on Windows (VOIP News) FCC Policy-Maker Lays Out VOIP Problem (VOIP News) VON Keynote Speech: FCC Enters Year of VOIP (VOIP News) Programming Partner Mail VS R4.0 (Evan Mann) Teaching My Mother About Making Long Distance Calls (Heywood) Excel Communications (William Robison) Re: AOL Connection Leads to $2,500 Phone Bill (John Levine) Re: A Better Way To Squelch Spam? (Paul Vader) Re: Cellular Tower Leases (Mark Atwood) Internet Links Teachers, Parents and Students (Lisa Minter) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:56:52 -0500 Subject: Leading Vendors Deliver IP Phones and VoIP Devices on Windows Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-31-2004/0002138346&EDATE= Leading Vendors Deliver IP Phones and VoIP Devices on Windows CE Microsoft Will Extend VoIP Platform in Next Version of Windows CE SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at the Spring 2004 Voice on the Net (VON) Conference & Expo, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced upcoming voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) features for Windows(R) CE 5.0 (previously code-named "Macallan"). The company also announced that leading vendors are delivering a wide variety of VoIP-based client devices and services -- such as desktop and wireless phones, IP set-top boxes, residential gateways and thin clients -- running the Windows CE operating system. New device and equipment manufacturer partners developing IP phones and VoIP devices using Windows CE include Atrium C&I Co. Ltd., Bast Inc., Intermec Technologies Corp., Inter-Tel Integrated Systems Inc., LG Electronics, Mikasa Shoji Co. Ltd., NEC Infrontia Corp., Netsys Corp., Reddline Systems Inc., RV Technology Ltd., Uptech Ltd., Wooksung Electronics Inc. and ZTE Corp. These partners chose Microsoft because Windows CE enables innovative telephony applications and tight integration with desktop and server applications. The updates to the VoIP platform in Windows CE 5.0 will decrease development time for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) via expanded componentization, integrated collaboration features, and an advanced application programming model and user interface. Windows CE 5.0 will further enable enterprises and network service providers to offer compelling telephony services to customers through easy integration with existing infrastructure, sophisticated call functionality and a configurable telephony user interface. "We are extremely excited about the breadth of IP phones and VoIP devices being delivered by a broad range of manufacturers on Windows CE," said Scott Horn, director of the Embedded Devices Group at Microsoft. "As voice and data services continue to merge across networks, enterprises and service operators are deploying innovative IP phone and VoIP devices that will help increase productivity and access to information in the office and at home. The new features in Windows CE 5.0 will support manufacturers with an even more flexible and integrated platform for developing a broad variety of VoIP-enabled client devices." Strong Partner Momentum "With strong customer interest, we recently shipped our Inter-Tel Model 8690 advanced IP phone on Windows CE, which creates a framework for our customers to integrate business-specific applications," said Jeff Ford, president of Inter-Tel Integrated Systems. "We are expanding our relationship with Microsoft to build our next generation of advanced IP phones on Windows CE, which are designed to make it easier for our enterprise customers to integrate their existing IT infrastructure with our telephony solution." Additional VoIP features coming in Windows CE 5.0 will enable increased productivity for customers via multiparty audio conferencing, Exchange Server integration with contact search and calendar functionality, and unified messaging. New features such as automatic provisioning and user identification will help IT departments simplify deployment and administration of IP phones and VoIP devices. "Windows CE 5.0 will enable us to easily build our upcoming IP phone product line while providing premium features such as instant messaging, alerts and multimedia services to our customers and end users of our phones," said Gyoo-Soo Lee, chief research engineer at LG Electronics. "As IP phones become multifunctional communication devices, the feature enhancements in Windows CE 5.0 will enable us to more quickly and cost-effectively develop smart IP phones." System integrators including BSQUARE Corp., HCL Technologies Ltd., Datacraft Asia Ltd., Net2Com Ltd., TABLETmedia Inc. and Zinwell Corp. are using the Windows platform to provide deployment and integration support for enterprises and service operators around the world. These new industry partners join previously announced manufacturers BCM Computers Co. Ltd., Casio Computer Company Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Samsung Electronics Company Ltd., Symbol Technologies Inc. and Tatung Co., which are delivering innovative IP phones and VoIP-enabled devices running Windows CE. One example is Mitel Networks Corp.'s 5230 IP appliance, which enables location transparency across the network, allowing users to associate any workstation as their own. Leading telephony and Internet service providers are using the Windows platform to provide innovative, revenue-generating services while reducing customer support costs and increasing user satisfaction. "Utilizing our global network and advanced routing technologies, Vonage offers innovative, feature-rich and cost-effective telephony services," said Cyrus Driver, vice president of wholesale sales at Vonage. "The recent deployment of our soft phone based on Windows CE enables rich services that integrate with desktop and server applications, allowing our customers to be more productive." About Windows CE Windows CE 5.0 will be Microsoft's newest and most advanced real-time embedded operating system for rapidly creating the next generation of 32-bit smart, connected and small-footprint devices such as consumer electronics devices, gateways, industrial controllers, mobile handheld devices, IP set-top boxes, VoIP phones and thin clients. Building on the reliable foundation of previous versions of Windows CE, new technologies included in the upcoming release enable platform developers to unleash their innovation through rich multimedia capabilities, increase their development efficiencies, and reduce time to market. More information, including Technology Preview kits, is available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/. SOURCE Microsoft Corp. Web Site: http://www.microsoft.com ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:53:51 -0500 Subject: FCC Policy-maker Lays Out VOIP Problem Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1558347,00.asp By Mark Hachman SANTA CLARA, Calif. A Federal Communications Commission policy-maker underlined the financial implications of voice over IP in a speech here Tuesday. For months, FCC Chairman Michael Powell has argued that the government should take a hands-off approach to VOIP, which uses the Internet Protocol (IP) to transmit voice information. But if VOIP takes off, the government will lose an important source of revenue that is being used to fund the communications needs of the poor, said Bob Pepper, chief of policy development for the FCC during a speech at the Voice On the Net show. The problem is that universal service, used to provide a basic level of telecommunications services to underserved markets, is funded through interstate calls. Calls made between states can yield only a few cents in fees per call, but the total obviously adds up, Pepper said. In 2001, $99.3 billion worth of interstate calls were made, Pepper said. And, as wireless and VOIP calls become more popular, the source of universal service funding will decrease. The habit is affecting American culture, Pepper said. "The only time I ever pay a long-distance bill is by accident," he said. "I use a cell phone. The incremental cost to call long distance is zero; I think of it as free. Why should I pay $4.95 a month and then get charged by the minute when I can call on my cell phone for free?" Full story at: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1558347,00.asp How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:40:01 -0500 Subject: VON Keynote: The FCC Enters the Year of VoIP Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.convergedigest.com/regulatory/regulatoryarticle.asp?ID=10667 VON Keynote: The FCC Enters the Year of VoIP "If last year was the year of spectrum, this is the year of VoIP," said Robert Pepper, Chief of Policy Development at the FCC. In the first three months of this year, the FCC has issued an historic declaratory ruling on VoIP (the Pulver.com petition), initiated a Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA) rulemaking proceeding on VoIP, and launched a far-ranging Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) concerning "Everything over IP" (EoIP). In addition to the Pulver.com petition (now resolved), there are also at least five other declaratory rulings still pending on critical VoIP questions (AT&T, Level 3, Inflexion, Vonage and SBC). This burst of regulatory action is not unexpected. Pepper said the FCC had been watching VoIP with interest for years but had decided not to jump into action in order to give the technology time to evolve. Its hand was forced however, when the state of Minnesota and others began their own regulatory actions against Vonage and other nascent VoIP providers. Full story at: http://www.convergedigest.com/regulatory/regulatoryarticle.asp?ID=10667 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ From: Evan Mann Subject: Programming Partner Mail VS R4.0 Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:11:40 GMT Organization: RoadRunner - Central Florida I have a ACS R4.0 and a Partner Mail VS R4.0 with 4 port card. I'm unfamiliar with the VS mail so I was hoping someone can give me a few tips on setting it up. Ive only setup PC Card VM's and those seem to work differently. ------------------------------ Subject: Teaching my Mother How to Make Long Distance Calls From: Heywood Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 00:08:32 -0600 Hi! My mother has Ameritech service in 248-651 (Rochester, MI) and she pays about a buck a minute long distance because she uses the default. I will be visiting her home next week, and I'm looking for suggestions on what to change it to. She may do one LD call per week or so, so good rates and a small monthly LD "access fee" would be ok. And, I'm in Canada so calls to Canada should also be reasonable - although I've been trying to explain to her how to call my 1-888 number. Dial arounds are not an option, this is a woman who has trouble with Touch-Tone (tm) phones. Those who wish to reply via email could email me at fred at nepean dot com. just use the same subject line so I'll spot it amidst the spam. Thanks! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Or how about a good *low* rate with no monthly access fee if possible? Or how about some minimum amount of time included in the service package for 'free' each month? Is your mother on SBC? I think you can get 60 minutes per month of long distance in a package each month for a few dollars. PAT] ------------------------------ From: William Robison Subject: Excel Communications Organization: Universitry of Iowa Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:17:25 GMT I attended a presentation by Excel Communications last night. They appear to sell telecom services (local, long-distance, internet, cell). The presentation was for prospective sales people, but it had all the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme. Sign up for $400, sign up more sellers and get a substantial "incentive", The people you sign up sign up more and you get a different kickback, etc. Has anyone out there encountered this organization, or have anything to relate with respect to Excel? Many thanks, -Willy [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We used to get a lot of messages about Excel here, but not so much in recent years that I know of. Most of the mail in the past referred to them as a pyramid scheme; not so many people making long distance calls as busy signing up still other agents is the way I heard it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 31 Mar 2004 16:55:13 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: AOL Connection Leads to $2,500 Phone Bill Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > Did you see that story in New York and elsewhere? Someone > accidentally ran a phone bill up to $2500 because of a mistaken > belief that a call to an AOL number within 973 in New Jersey was a > free local call. I saw the story, and it makes no sense. The story was filed from Denver, about a Denver guy arguing about the bill with Qwest which is the phone company in Denver. All calls within 973 are intra-LATA. Unless someone made the unusual choice of another carrier for intra-LATA toll, they'd be billed by Verizon on the Verizon local phone bill. It looks to me like what happened was that the guy's daughter set up her PC in New Jersey to call a 973 access number, brought the computer back to Denver, forgot to change the settings, so it kept calling the NJ number. It's hard to see how someone could run up a $2500 bill at NJ intralata rates which are under 10 cpm, but it's not hard if it's non-plan interstate rates which can still be 25 cpm or more. Too bad he didn't sign up for Qwest's flat rate long distance for $25/mo. North Jersey has overlays and permissive dialing, so any call within the 973/862 can be dialed either as 10D or 1+10D, with everything else being 1+10D. Rather than attempt to memorize and program in long lists of local prefxes, the easiest thing to do is to set up your PC to dial everything as 1+10D. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner "A book is a sneeze." - E.B. White, on the writing of Charlotte's Web [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John, does this story sort of have the marks of an urban legend? Yes, there was a newspaper account of it, and newspapers do not usually write fiction (the New York Times and the Boston Globe being two exceptions) but has anyone ever identified the person who got this humongous telephone bill or audited how the telco heard the sad story then refused to make an adjustment, etc? These situations used to 'come up' all the time in the past with BBS lines and in the early days of Compuserve. Someone always dialed an inappropriate number then got a terrible bill for it, etc. I am not sure I can buy all that bologna. PAT] ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: A Better Way To Squelch Spam? Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:57:16 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations William Warren writes: > The cost of paying for email will be dwarfed by the savings that > result from it: not just the lowered cost of an (already overtaxed) > infrastructure, but the much higher human cost in wages, agravation, > and time. That's only true if the plan actually works. Since 99.999% of all spam is sent out these days by other than the spammer's resources, these dumb schemes are hurting everyone BUT who they're supposed to. Privacy is not the issue here -- theft of resources is. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Cellular Tower Leases From: Mark Atwood Organization: EasyNews, UseNet made Easy! Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 08:12:15 GMT John Levine writes: >> I want to buy cellular tower leases, is there a directory of cell >> tower lease owners? Thanks. > I doubt it. We tower owners are a very miscellaneous lot. This sounds like a business opportunity crying to be filled. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, people won't be sure mra@pobox.com | you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra | http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I guess I am missing something here. Exactly *what* does a person who 'buys cellular tower leases' or 'sells cellular tower leases' do? Is that like Dobson here in Liberty, Kansas (suburb of Independence)? Mr. Dobson has the 'Cellular One' brand name in this area of the county, but one of his subsidiary companies is the cellular tower southwest of town. In addition to 'Dobson Cellular One' he rents tower space to the other carriers around town. Is that what your hypothetical buyer/seller would be doing? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Internet Links Teachers, Students and Parents Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:00:00 CST A story in the Independence Reporter for Sunday, March 24, 2004 told about the work of Bob Tincher, Technology Coordinator for the Independence, Kansas public schools. Bob serves as webmaster for http://www.indyschools.com and the story also told about the web pages maintained by the various teachers in the schools here such as Doran Smith, chemistry and physics teacher at Independence High School. Teachers can send/receive email with parents, students and other faculty members. Teachers use their individual web pages at http://www.indyschools.com to post class assignments and course description and other news. Each school (the three elementary schools, the middle school and the high school) maintains a mailing list/newsletter for parents. Go to the main front page for the Independence School District then after noting the calendar of events, continue on to each individual school, then each teacher's web page. High school students at Independence High School began http://www.indyschools.com about eight years ago (1995) as a class project, and it since has developed into a large web site. About 45 teachers in our school district participate with web pages of their own for communication with parents and students. Lisa Minter ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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